SCI FI Wire talked to Frank Miller, who revealed that Sin City 2 is ready to go and that he hopes to be in Texas to shoot the sequel by late spring with Robert Rodriguez:

"The script is largely done, and now we're in that limbo zone where we're casting and making script adjustments as we go," Miller said in an interview while promoting 300, which he executive-produced and which is also based on one of his graphic novels.

The IESB got some quick news regarding Sin City 2 from Rosario Dawson and Robert Rodriguez and an Inglorious Bastards update from Quentin Tarantino at ShoWest today.

Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino were honored as "ShoWest 2007 Directors of the Year," and Rosario Dawson as "Supporting Actress of the Year" at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas today.

Prior to the honorees dinner, they were able to give some quick updates on their upcoming projects.

Rosario Dawson says Sin City 2 will begin shooting in June or July of this year. She reiterated what we already know that the storyline will be from "A Dame to Kill For." She said she kind of had an idea of who they want for the lead, but she cannot talk about it. She was prodded, "Angelina Jolie?" She smiled and shushed the press, "I can't talk about it."

With the success of 300 at the box office, Robert Rodriguez was asked if he thought he would get more money this time around considering Frank Miller's property is such a hot commodity right now and Sin City started it all. He says that his idea for the sequel hasn't changed, he's going to make the sequel low budget just like the first one.

Quentin Tarantino's long rumored film Inglorious Bastards has been through the rumor mill and back again with ideas of casting and such. But he's got to hammer out the script first. Tarantino, was asked about the status of the film, said that he was going to finish writing it during the press tour for Grindhouse that is coming up.

In talking with worldwide press members today in Second Life about 300, Frank Miller said that he talked to Robert Rodriguez yesterday about Sin City 2. They hope to be prepping the sequel in the next six weeks for shooting to start in June. As for casting “read all the rumors,” he hinted, perhaps a reference to their pursuit of Angelina Jolie for Ava in A DAME TO KILL FOR.

MTV talked to Sin City 2 co-director Robert Rodriguez and star Rosario Dawson about the anticipated film, which will tell one story this time that may include Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas. Here are several clips from the article:

"[Depp] was interested in doing the Jackie Boy character that Benicio [Del Toro] played [in the first one], but he was doing that movie 'Libertine' in Europe and it just kept getting pushed and delayed and went right through our shooting schedule," Rodriquez said of the actor he directed in "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." "But there is a better role for him in ['Hell and Back']. I kept going, 'Gosh, Jackie Boy is a small part, he could be really good [as Wallace].' When he wasn't available, I thought maybe it was meant to be."

While no deal is in place for Depp at the moment, Rodriguez seemed coyly confident they would get the Oscar-nominated actor. The director was equally excited about potentially casting another of his old favorites, Antonio Banderas.

"When I showed him the first sample of the work, he went, 'Man I'll do anything in that. I'll be the hunchback. You have to bring me onboard, that looks amazing,' " Rodriguez recalled. "So Frank met him that time too and he said, 'I have got to find something for that guy. I've never met him before. He's amazing.' [So we're] looking at the cast of characters and [looking] to see where he can fit."

Smokin' Aces director Joe Carnahan revealed on his official Blog that Robert Rodriguez gave him a sneak peek at Sin City 2:

Robert Rodriguez stopped by the office yesterday and showed me what may become the teaser for 'SIN CITY 2' and HOLY SH*T is it something. I don't want to let any cats out of any bags, so all I can say is there's not a hetero male moviegoer alive that's not going to deeply DIG that spot. Remember, he's doing 'A Dame To Kill For' and brother has he got it. That guy's enthusiasm for filmmaking is infectious too. A solid bloke and a good soul.

Premiere.com has posted some interesting comments from Michael Madsen. The actor says that the bombing of Grindhouse might have halted progress on Sin City 2. Both Grindhouse and Sin City were co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and released by Dimension Films:

Premiere: Some of the other things that you have got coming up include Sin City 2.

Madsen: They haven't shot it yet. I don't know if they ever will. I am not sure [about] the franchise. I think the Grindhouse thing didn't kind of work out...

...as well as they had hoped. Certainly not in the States.I don't know what effect that is going to have on making Sin City 2. Sin City was Mickey [Rourke]'s film. Mickey is f**king incredible in that f**king movie. He is the movie. And I am happy for Mickey. Mickey is the real deal. Mickey is Mickey. And you can't f**k with that. And he did a tremendous job in that thing. The only reason I did it was because Robert Rodriguez said that if I took that little part I would get a bigger role in the sequel, that Bob would have more to do in the sequel. So I said: "Okay, fine." I am sitting on an apple box [in front of a green screen] and then when you see the movie, you're in a car. I don't understand it. I don't know how to do that. I don't get it.

A few days ago, Michael Madsen was quoted saying that the poor performance of Grindhouse might affect whether Sin City 2 will be made. Not true, according to words from Frank Miller in a new interview at Rotten Tomatoes:

Of course, by stroke of coincidence we learned just before we sat down with Miller that Robert Rodriguez had been signed onto a remake of the classic sixties sex flick "Barbarella." So what of "Sin City 2"? Rumours swirl that the project has been stalled by the breakdown of Rodriguez' marriage. "Sin City 2 is still likely to happen," says Miller, "just not right away. The script is written and Robert and I are raring to go, but it looks like I'm going to be doing The Spirit first and Robert's going to be doing Barbarella first."

MTV talked to Frank Miller who talked a bit about the Sin City 2 delay and that they are planning to do Sin City 3 as well:

"There was just some problems above us that I don't understand…that I don’t really want to understand," Miller said matter of factly about studio delays in pre-production. All of which shouldn't bum out fans, he insisted, since"he expects not only to eventually film "Sin City 2," but "Sin City 3” as well. That story, Rodriguez divulged, would concentrate on Miller's "Hell and Back," the story of a hallucinating artist named Wallace. Rumors have persisted for months that the role of Wallace was being written for Johnny Depp, a casting coup that Rodriguez himself was coyly confident would eventually happen.

Director Robert Rodriguez (Grindhouse: Planet Terror, Desperado) has revealed the current status of the long-anticipated sequel to the 2005 adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel Sin City.

During an interview with Digital Spy for his upcoming Predators, Rodriguez confirmed that he is in the process of rewriting the script for Sin City 2.

"We're still working on Sin City, I want to do it so we'll see. It's just a matter of when," said Rodriguez. "We have a script... a rewritten script that we still have to write and it's just finding the right time slot to do it."

Rodriguez's next directorial feature, Machete, will be released on September 3, 2010. He also is directing Spy Kids 4, which is currently in pre-production.

Local Austin filmmaker Robert Rodriguez appeared at South by Southwest on Tuesday as part of the SXSW Interactive Festival to announce a number of upcoming projects including Quickdraw Animation, dedicated to making CG-animated feature films including the long-planned CG Heavy Metal movie, for which they have a finished script.

During the panel, Rodriguez mentioned he will start shooting Machete Kills (announced at last year's San Diego Comic-Con) in April with the long-planned and massively delayed Sin City 2 planning to start production over the summer. Although he kept quiet on how much of the cast of either previous movie will be returning, he mentioned he'd been in talks with actors for both films, adding that the casting will be "of the same caliber and ecclecticism" as the previous films.

Rodriguez also said that Quickdraw Animation would be treated as a separate entity from his home-grown Troublemaker Productions with Heavy Metal and a family film both moving into the storyboard preproduction phases, although Rodriguez says that they've found a way to shrink the amount of time it takes to do production on CG animation which may mean we'll see one or both of these films sooner rather than later. (Normal CG animated movies take between three or four years from development and pre-production through the finalized film.) Roriguez wouldn't say the title for the family film because he says that like "Spy Kids," it would give away the entire concept.

You can read a lot more about what Rodriguez is up to, including a filmmaking contest he announced at SXSW, over at The Hollywood Reporter's Risky Business blog.

It's official! Dimension Films has announced that Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller will start production on Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. Here's the full announcement:

Filmmakers Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, along with producer Alexander Rodnyansky, have announced that production will commence on the highly anticipated sequel to 2005’s Sin City, entitled Sin City: A Dame To Kill For. The film will be produced by AR Films and Quick Draw Productions, financed through AR Films U.S and released domestically by Dimension Films.

“The first question I am always asked is “When will you make another Sin City? ,” said Rodriquez. “I have wanted to re-team with Frank Miller and return to the world he created since the day we wrapped the original, but have felt a duty to the fans to wait until we had something truly exceptional that would meet and exceed what have become epic expectations. A Dame To Kill For will certainly be worth the wait.”

Sin City creator, screenwriter and co-director Frank Miller said, “The first Sin City knocked out audiences who had never seen anything like it before. Robert Rodriguez and I are going to shake things up and deliver a ferocious film experience that is going to go even further than the first.“

The script and details of the film’s story have been kept tightly under wraps. Casting will begin next week, with many of the original cast expected to return. The film, a Quick Draw Production, will be produced by Rodriguez and producing partners Aaron Kaufman and Iliana Nikolic; and by Alexander Rodnyansky and Sergei Bespalov and Stephen L’Hereux. Miller, The Weinstein Company’s Harvey and Bob Weinstein and Miramax’s Adam Fields will act as executive producers. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For was developed by Frank Miller based upon his graphic novel, with a screenplay by Frank Miller and Academy Award winner William Monahan (The Departed). The film is expected to begin production this summer at Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas.

Alexander Rodnyansky said, “We are delighted to continue our relationship with Robert Rodriguez and Quick Draw Productions. It is a rare opportunity to produce and finance a film with the high profile and enormous fan base of the Sin City franchise. AR FIlms will be managing worldwide sales of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, as well as Robert’s Machete Kills at the Cannes Film Festival in May.”

The original Sin City was brought to the screen by Rodriguez and Miller and released by Dimension in 2005, and proved to be a landmark step forward in filmmaking, breaking ground with immersive green screen to create its iconic stylish look. The first film, released on April 1, 2005, grossed over $160 million (US) worldwide and is a consistently strong home video and television performer.

“Audiences have been clamoring for Sin City 2 with Robert and Frank for a long time and trust me, it will be worth the wait,” said Bob Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company. “This will be my 11th collaboration with Robert in 16 years and he’s become a great friend. I look forward to continuing our long lasting relationship and partnering on more projects in the future.”

The deal was negotiated by Aaron Kaufman, Craig Emanuel of Loeb & Loeb and Robert Newman of WME on behalf of Rodriguez; David Glasser and Andrew Kramer on behalf of Dimension Films; Schuyler Moore of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and Jere Hausfater on behalf of AR Films; Kenneth Keller and Garth Rosengren of Krieg, Keller, Sloan, Reilley & Roman and John LaViolette of Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman on behalf of Stephen L’Heureux and Solopsist Films; and Mark Lichtman and Neil Meyer and Allison Binder of Stone, Meyer, Genow, Smelkinson & Binder on behalf of Miller.

Last week, we got the big announcement that Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller will start filming Sin City: A Dame to Kill For at Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas this summer. Now, Rodriguez talked to MTV about the casting.

"We still have to cast. I'm shooting 'Machete' next month, and we go right into 'Sin City.' It might overlap, but we haven't done any casting yet, except for the people who we know are already in it and returning," he said, adding, "'A Dame to Kill For,' all those people come back. I just had lunch with Mickey [Rourke] this weekend. He's all excited to come back, but he's probably the first one. I saw Rosario [Dawson] too. I ran into her for something else, and she's pumped. They've always been excited about doing another one, so that will be fun."

But what about Angelina Jolie, who has been rumored for the title role for quite some time?

"I haven't even gotten to meet with her yet about it or discuss with Frank about who we would want to go with or talk to first. That's a fun process, but that probably won't happen in the next month," Rodriguez said.

Dimension Films announced today that the sequel Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For will open nationwide on October 4, 2013. Casting is underway, with original cast members returning to work with directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, from their script co-written by Academy Award winner William Monahan . Academy Award nominee Mickey Rourke and Jessica Alba are already confirmed to return.

The script and details of the film's story are being kept tightly under wraps. The studio says the remaining cast will be announced shortly with some big names expected to fill the roles of Sin City's newest characters yet to be seen in theaters.

The original Sin City broke new ground with its iconic stylish look and grossed over $160 million worldwide. Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For will not only bring fans back to the world that Rodriguez and Miller created, but will also add a new dimension by bringing their unique visual style to life in 3D.

The film will be released by Dimension Films in the US and Canada, and produced by Quick Draw Productions, AR Films, Miramax and Solipsist.

Aldamisa International's C.O.O. Jere Hausfater and President of International Sales and Distribution Nadine de Barros and will oversee international sales for this project at the Cannes Film Festival.

The film is expected to begin production this summer at Robert Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas.

It's been a weird few years since 2005's Sin City came out and proved to be both a box office success and an all around great movie. Since that day seven years ago, the talk of a sequel has been very minimal most of the time with small pockets of excitement whenever Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez and Dimension Films say that it's happening.

MTV recently caught up with Michael Madsen and asked him about his involvement with the Sin City sequel and he offered up several details that don't sound very hopeful, or perhaps he's simply misinformed.

He said: "Well that’s kind of a mystery because there's a whole bunch of stuff all over the internet that I’m doing a sequel and I certainly didn’t put that stuff on there, so I don’t know who did. But, wherever that came from, whoever generated that information, must be thinking that I’m doing that — but I can’t seem to get an answer out of anybody."

You can see the tip of the iceberg forming there. "I went to Austin, Texas to visit with Robert Rodriguez. I had an event [there]. I was hoping to see Robert, but he had left. He went to L.A. for the premiere of ‘Dark Shadows.’ I didn’t get to talk to him and then I heard that somebody asked him if I was going to be involved with it and I guess he claimed that they were still writing the script, whatever that means. It seems like it’s been quite a long time."

He added: "And then I was in Paris [for a film festival,] which was kind of an homage to Harvey Weinstein … and Harvey is a wonderful man. He’s a good pal of mine, we’ve done some good things together and I mentioned it to him and he said he wasn’t producing it. He said he wasn’t involved in it. If the Weinstein’s aren’t doing ‘Sin City’ then I don’t know who is and whoever it is they have been not very clear about it. I mean I’ve heard everybody, every name on the roster that’s supposed be in the thing, even Mickey, he’s a friend of mine… I mean I just don’t know. It’s odd that I can’t seem to get an answer out of anybody. Nobody seems to know."

Now, this can't be true because Dimension Films officially announced the sequel just a few months ago. Rodriguez just wrapped Machete Kills and Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is scheduled for an October 4, 2013 release.

Mickey Rourke is set to reprise his role as Marv in Robert Rodriguez's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Deadline reports.

The screenplay was confirmed to feature Marv last year and the actor told SuperHeroHype that, despite a dislike of the heavy prosthetics that the role requires, he'd be interested in returning.

"It depends," he said, "It depends on how bad they want me. You feel me?... I did [like the character], but I'm claustrophobic, so the the hours of makeup -- You have to keep it on for about 13 or 14 hours a day. It's latex and glue and that stuff that gets my eyes all red..."

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is set to begin production soon, targeting an October 4, 2013 release.